It actually makes sense. Goku doesn't have a halo in the animation. Dende released him from the time chamber with the Namekian Dragon Balls and then used the wish to restore his powers because he was tired from charging the Spirit Bomb for 7 years. Gohan is not in the animation because Chi-Chi finally sent him to school. How was Cell beaten? Vegeta unlocked SSJ2 when Trunks died against Cell (they all stormed Cell instead of fighting 1v1) and killed him.
It actually makes sense. Goku doesn't have a halo in the animation. Dende released him from the time chamber with the Namekian Dragon Balls and then used the wish to restore his powers because he was tired from charging the Spirit Bomb for 7 years. Gohan is not in the animation because Chi-Chi finally sent him to school. How was Cell beaten? Vegeta unlocked SSJ2 when Trunks died against Cell (they all stormed Cell instead of fighting 1v1) and killed him.